


One Minor Problem

by Elpie (Horribibble)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Assassin Dorian, M/M, Target Cullen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6379360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Horribibble/pseuds/Elpie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian probably should have mentioned what he does for a living a bit earlier in the relationship.<br/>Or, you know, refrained from catching feelings for his target.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's a Good Thing You Haven't Picked Out the Curtains Yet

**Author's Note:**

> You may recognize this as being part of my Cullen/Dorian ficlet series, Hold It Gently Now and Go. 
> 
> That's because it's being expanded. Prepare your hearteries.

The best part of Cullen’s day is coming home. 

That’s not to say he hates his job, or that he’s particularly grumpy or antisocial. He just really appreciates finally walking up to his front door at the end of the day and looking forward to what’s waiting on the other side. 

He likes being able to kick off his shoes, drop his bag and keys, and scratch Petunia behind the ears. He likes taking a deep breath and basking in the sounds of Dorian’s footfalls as he comes to kiss him hello, or the smooth call of, “In here!” from the kitchen or den. 

He likes the instant sensation of stress melting off of his shoulders. 

So when he comes home Thursday night, drops his bag and keys, and scratches Petunia behind the ears, he takes a deep breath and looks around, waiting for Dorian. But no sound comes. He frowns, because for a moment he thinks that his boyfriend must be very involved with something, but then, the lights are off. 

Dorian would let him know if he was going out, and if he’s reading in the dark again, he’ll just give himself a headache. 

Cullen sighs and shakes his head. He gives Petunia a quick pat and pads out of the entryway, looking for his stubborn boyfriend. “Dorian?” He calls. 

There’s a prickling feeling at the back of his neck as he steps into the den. The windows are large, yawning into the space. They still haven’t picked out proper drapes. (It’s an ongoing argument.)

Cullen sighs and rolls his neck and shoulders, trying to work out the unease, and then suddenly he hears the door slam open. He begins to turn, only to be suddenly thrown to the ground, Dorian landing hard on top of him mere  _ seconds  _ before those great big windows shatter in  _ torrents  _ of glass shards. 

Petunia starts barking like mad. 

Dorian kneels above him with  _ murder  _ in his eyes. He’s breathing hard, his hair is mussed, and he’s shaking with exertion. 

“Dorian, what--?” 

"You turned off your phone, didn't you?" His speech is fast, but not panicked. It comes like a breeze, quick and harsh.

"No, it's--it's just on vibrate. Dorian, what the fuck?!" He pulls his phone from his back pocket, glances at the screen--

**_Meet me at the café in fifteen, amatus._ **

**_It's important._ **

**_Please tell me you got this._ **

**_Cullen if you're headed home anyway_ **

**_Why THE FUCK do you even have a phone_ **

**_FUCK_ **

**_STAY AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS_ **

Cullen realizes, with a tightness in his chest, that the noises he’s hearing are  _ gunshots.  _ The windows have been shattered by sniper fire, and there are  _ holes  _ in the couch back above them. 

"Dorian, what the  _ hell _ is this about?!"

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry about this darling. I may have left out a few things about myself during all of this."

" _ Like why someone might want to kill me?! _ "

"Like being the first man hired to do it."

"I'm sorry,  **_what_ ** ?!"

"I changed my mind!"


	2. Keep Lying

This is not Cullen’s day. 

It started off alright. There had been some honest progress on his current case, an otherwise soul-sucking and generally unpleasant business, and he had been beyond ready to come home and spend an athletic evening with his loving boyfriend.

Who had apparently been hired to kill him off. 

An assassin. Dorian Pavus, fashion enthusiast and unrepentant  _ nerd  _ is an assassin tasked with ending his life. 

As much anger as this stirs in him, it comes nowhere near the sheer heartbreaking  _ crush  _ of his betrayal. He’s trusted Dorian with so much. He’s told him so much about anything and everything, like some stupid child eagerly basking in the other man’s attention. Shit. He’s practically served up sensitive information on a  _ platter  _ for a contract killer who’s been  _ fucking him  _ in every sense of the word!

He watches with what feels like a hot iron ball in his throat as Dorian shoves their essentials in a go bag—an album, Petunia’s leash, a change of clothes for each of them, things that make Cullen’s head  _ spin  _ at the simultaneous right-and-wrong rush of it all. His eye catches on the flash of a coin—his lucky coin, the one he’d given the other man—on the cord around Dorian’s neck.

And he begins to shake. 

Cullen allows Dorian to take hold of his arm and lead him out of the apartment, Petunia’s lead wrapped firmly about his other hand. He obeys each and every physical queue on this escape route that seems entirely  _ too  _ methodically planned. 

He follows him through a winding route to a rundown apartment building, up a flight of sticky, stained steps, and into an apartment empty of everything except a bed, a table, and two chairs. 

“We can’t stay here for long, mind. We won’t have to. I’ll  _ fix  _ this, I promise.” Dorian finally releases him, reaching up to touch his cheek, his shoulder, checking him over for any sign of blood or bruising. 

The ball in Cullen’s throat cracks open, and his chest and belly flood with cold, stabbing  _ rage _ . He grabs Dorian’s wrist tight and squeezes until the other man’s eyes betray the pain. Dorian doesn’t make a sound, and Cullen doesn’t know if that makes this better or worse. 

“So you’re...what? A hitman?”

“Assassin, dear. Hitman sounds so crass.”

“You still kill people for a living.”

“There is that.”

“Do you sleep with all of your targets, or am I just special?”

Dorian goes still and quiet, studying Cullen carefully. He frowns just a little, contemplating as he always does over important matters. Cullen usually finds it endearing. Now he wants to scream. 

“You shouldn’t ask a question if you don’t want the answer.”

“You could lie.”

“Cullen…”

“I mean, it’s not as if you haven’t been lying this whole time. You couldn’t do it just once more?”

“Would you believe me?”

Cullen chokes on a bitter laugh, his breath drawing in too quick. “I’ve been attaching meaning to something that isn’t even there. What’s one more time?”

“I’ve asked myself that question, you know.” Dorian says, looking somewhere distant, somewhere that isn’t here at all, before trying to catch Cullen’s eye again. It’s his turn to look away. “Regardless, I’m going to keep you safe.”

“You’ll pardon me if I don’t rush to close my eyes and fall asleep.”

“...As you say.”

A few hours ago, Cullen would do anything to take that look from Dorian and replace it with a kiss, curl his lips up into a smile with a hum and a grin. 

A few hours ago. 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt me and scream with me over on tumblr at [anabundanceofstilinskis.](http://anabundanceofstilinskis.tumblr.com/)


End file.
